Thursday, December 29, 2016

President
Elect Donald Trump pushes-back hard on Lame-duck President Obama’s threats of
reprisals against Russia

Trump’s
verbal barbs weren’t only directed at his current Democrat counterpart---Trump says he doesn’t know what Republican Senator Lindsay Graham is talking
about when mentioning targeted sanctions personally directed at Russia’s leader
Vladimir Putin;adding that he doesn’t
talk to Graham

By making
his threats against Russia, Lame-duck Obama might be leaving his successor with
a more complex problem than is necessary---Russia expresses its
annoyance at Obama’s stance and promises to respond in kind to any U.S. actions

THE
WASHINGTON POST REPORT

According to a
report in the Washington Post,President-elect Donald Trump’s pushback against his lame-duck
counterpart was more like a very hard ceremonial shove--- “President-elect Donald Trump
distanced himself Wednesday night from the Obama administration’s plans to
punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election,
telling reporters ‘I think we ought to
get on with our lives.’…Trump,
appearing at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., was asked what he
thought about the Obama administration’s plans to sanction Russia for what U.S.
intelligence officials say was state-sanctioned hacking of Democratic
organizations, targeting of state election systems and meddling in the U.S.
presidential election…. ‘I think we ought to get on with our lives,’ Trump said
in response. ‘I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The
whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what’s going on.
We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but I'm not sure we have the kind
the security we need.’…”. (See “Trump on
alleged election interference by Russia: ‘Get on with our lives’” by John
Wagner, 12/28/16, Washington Post[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/12/28/trump-on-alleged-election-interference-by-russia-get-on-with-our-lives/?utm_term=.789d9f6402b4
];same as [http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-on-alleged-election-interference-by-russia-%E2%80%98get-on-with-our-lives%E2%80%99/ar-BBxFD8j?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp]).

Questioning
also turned toward proposals raised by GOP hawks, Lindsay Graham and John
McCain.According to John Wagner’s
reporting for the Washington Post,“….Asked
in particular about comments Wednesday by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) that
sanctions should hit Russian leader Vladimir Putin “as an individual,” Trump
demurred….‘I don’t know what he’s
doing,’ Trump said of Graham. ‘I haven’t spoken to him. As you know, he ran
against me.’…Trump, whom critics have
accused of being too cozy with Putin, was referring to Graham’s failed 2016 bid
for the Republican presidential nomination….”

The WaPo
article also made note of the following:“….During the election,
several Democratic email accounts were hacked, including those of the
Democratic National Committee and of John Podesta, the chairman of Democratic
nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign….U.S. officials have pinned
the blame on the Russian government -- a finding that Trump has repeatedly said
he views skeptically….administration
officials are pushing Obama to respond before leaving office.”

THE IBT REPORT

A report on
the same story that appeared in the International Business Times made President
Elect Trump’s remarks seem even tougher and more significant (See“Trump On Russia Sanctions: President-Elect Urges US To ‘Get
On With Our Lives’ Ahead Of Obama Administration’s Possible Restrictions”by Seerat Chabba, 12/29/16,IBT/National[http://www.ibtimes.com/trump-russia-sanctions-president-elect-urges-us-get-our-lives-ahead-obama-2466778]).
According to the IBT report,“President-elect
Donald Trump on Wednesday showed no inclination toward sanctioning Russia,
despite President Barack Obama’s push for the country to take steps against
Russia over its alleged interference in the election that saw Trump emerge
victorious…."

The IBT
report by Seerat Chabba also mentioned Russia’s response to Obama’s
threats---“…. Russia has said it will respond to any 'hostile steps' by the U.S., denying all allegations of attempting to influence the elections.... 'If Washington really does take new hostile steps, they will be answered ... any action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately bounce back on US diplomats in Russia,' CNN quoted the official representative for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, as saying in a statement.... Zakharova added: 'Frankly, we are tired about the lies about Russian hackers — it’s misinformation by Obama administration aimed at providing an excuse for its own failure.'..."

Monday, December 19, 2016

Last minute efforts to stop “election” of Donald Trump as
POTUS all likely to fail

According to
a report this morning in Newsmax,“…you thought
Election Day was in November….Electors
are set to gather in every state on Monday to formally elect Donald Trump
president even as anti-Trump forces try one last time to deny him the White
House….Protests are planned for state
capitals, but they are unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to dump
Trump. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to
vote for alternative candidates…Republican
electors say they have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging
them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns….”(See“Electoral College Meets Amid Effort to Deny Trump
Presidency” by Staff Writer, 12/19/16, Newsmax/ Home[http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Electoral-College/2016/12/19/id/764594/]).

That
Newsmax article went on to state,along
with many anecdotal examples,that“….Some
Democrats have argued that the Electoral College is undemocratic because it
gives more weight to less populated states. That is how Hillary Clinton, who
got more than 2.6 million more votes nationwide, lost the election to Trump.
Some have also tried to dissuade Trump voters by arguing that he is unsuited to
the job. Others cite the CIA's assessment that Russia engaged in computer
hacking to sway the election in favor of the Republican….But despite the national group therapy
session being conducted by some Democrats, only one Republican elector told the
AP that he will not vote for Trump….”

NOTHING
IN U.S. CONSTITUTION OR FEDERAL LAW

Newsmax
says that there is no constitutional provision or federal law which requires any
elector to cast his/her vote for the candidate who carried their state in the
November election. However,there are some >>>states<<< that do require their electors to vote for the
winning candidate, some by either by operation
of state law ---and others by signed pledges. Nonetheless, no elector in the Electoral
College has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged, according to
the National Archives.The Newsmax
article says that“….Those laws are rarely tested. More than 99
percent of electors through U.S. history have voted for the candidate who won
their state….”

CONGRESS
STILL MUST MEET TO CERTIFY RESULT OF ELECTORAL
COLLEGE VOTE

The
Newsmax piece, cited above, also noted that a “joint session of Congress” will convene on January
6th 2017 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, with
Vice President Joe Biden presiding as president of the Senate.

After
the result of the Electoral College vote is certified by the Congress, the
winner — more than likely Donald Trump — will be sworn
in on January 20th.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Georgia
officially notified Homeland Security about the unauthorized attempted breach
of its elections computer systems---Homeland Security says it
will investigate and then respond to the inquiry directly to the State of Georgia

HERE’S THE
RUB:---the Georgia Attorney General says the post-election attempted hack of
his state’s election computers looks like >>>IT WAS DONE BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <<<

Georgia now wants confirmation and an explanation about the apparent
unauthorized intrusion into its computer systems by the Federal Agency

According to
a recent report that appears in Newsmax,“The state of Georgia on Thursday accused the
U.S. Homeland Security Department of apparently trying to hack its election
systems….In a letter to Homeland
Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp said a
computer traced back to the federal agency in Washington tried unsuccessfully
to penetrate the state office's firewall one week after the presidential
election. The letter speculated that what it described as "a large
unblocked scan event" might have been a security test….It sought details, including whether the
agency did in fact conduct the unauthorized scan, who authorized it and whether
other states might have been similarly probed. Kemp cited the federal law
against knowingly accessing a computer without authorization or exceeding
authorized access, which is a felony….”(See“Georgia Accuses US of
Trying to Hack Its Election Systems”from
AP feed, 12/8/16, Newmax/Home/ Newsfront
[http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Election-Hacking/2016/12/08/id/763017/]).

The
Newsmax article went on to quote the Georgia Secretary of State as
follows:“….‘At no time has my office agreed to or
permitted DHS to conduct penetration testing or security scans of our network,’
Kemp wrote. ‘Moreover, your department has not contacted my office since this
unsuccessful incident to alert us of any security event that would require
testing or scanning of our network.’…Kemp
said this was ‘especially odd and concerning’ given that he is a member of the
U.S. Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group run by the federal
agency….”

Newsmax
printed this response from Homeland Security:“….Homeland Security spokesman
Scott McConnell said the department got Kemp's letter and is ‘looking into the
matter.’…’DHS takes the trust of our public and private sector partners
seriously, and we will respond to Secretary Kemp directly,’ McConnell said….”

GEORGIA
ONE OF TWO STATES THAT DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN U.S. DEPARTMANT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY’S PRE-ELECTION ANTI-HACKING PROGRAM AND TESTS

The
Newsmax piece also noted that forty-eight states accepted offers from the
Homeland Security Department to scan their networks AHEAD of the presidential
elections. Reportedly those scans searched for vulnerabilities that could be exploited
by hackers. The U.S. agency also described how states could patch their
networks to make it more difficult for hackers to penetrate them.Interestingly, Georgia was one of the two
states that DID NOT ACCEPT the pre-election offer from the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security.

About Me

I formerly have commented on various political blogs concerning Republican politics. Although the focus of my political commentary has been on the Brooklyn GOP and other aspects of politics in Brooklyn, I have also posted commentary about national matters.
If you wish to contact Galewyn Massey directly, please, Email to galewynmasban@gmail.com